DEHRADUN, India, Aug 4, 2023 (BSS/AFP) - At least three people were killed and 16 more were missing after a landslide swept away shops in the Himalayas of northern India, officials said Friday.

   Rains triggered the "heavy landslide" on a popular Hindu pilgrimage route early Friday morning, the Uttarakhand state disaster agency said.

   "We have recovered the bodies of three people so far during the search and rescue operations," disaster management official Nandan Singh Rajwar said in a statement.

   "The rescue work is going on to find the remaining people."

   Images showed debris from the shops strewn across a steep hill leading down to a river below. 

   India has been battered by rains since the start of the annual monsoon season in June, with flooding and landslides killing dozens of people.

   Last month, at least 27 people died after a massive landslide in the western state of Maharashtra.

   Monsoon rains are vital to replenishing rivers and groundwater, but the deluge also causes widespread destruction every year.

   Experts say climate change is increasing the number of extreme weather events around the world, with damming, deforestation and development projects in India exacerbating the human toll.